Chapter 9 Mining Star

'So do you think our starfield will suffer an attack from our neighbors?" Brenda asked with interest as she put her hand on her chin. 'Eighty percent it will, they are pro-Imperial after all." Edward said. 'I can't see that you have any potential for star wars command, why don't you take command when the fleet arrives?" General Barr smiled and stubbed out his cigarette. He waved his hand and said, 'I can't, it'll take a professional." Barr let out a bitter laugh, 'A professional? Three years ago, we had just become independent, the Empire had an undeclared war against us, and we haven't had any professionals in this field since the destruction of the Marnier." 'Let's build up the starship force first, and get the Federation to send someone to train." Brenda shook General Barr's hand on the table, trying to soothe his frustration and grumpiness. 'I won't let you lead the group on Esosu then, stay and wait to receive the battleships, the fleet will arrive in three days." General Barr said. Edward froze for a moment and quickly asked, 'Are you really going to let me be the fleet commander?" General Barr gave him a blank look and said, 'Do I have a choice? Choose a general in the dwarf!" 'It's in three days, then ......," Edward said and pointed upwards. 'The Imperial Maso has withdrawn!" General Barr took out another cigarette, this time he didn't light it, but contemplated something. Aboard the Maso, Alphonse was giving a report on his work. He closed the paper, gave a military salute and said, 'The above is the entire course of this battle and some of my personal opinions." General Wolrich gestured for him to sit down and said to the crowd attending the meeting, 'This report of the Lieutenant Colonel, the process is detailed and the opinions are pertinent I think it will be sent directly to the Imperial Headquarters, adjourn the meeting, Lieutenant Colonel Alphonse, you stay." Alphonse stood up and waited for the rest of his fellow officers to walk out of the conference room one by one before sitting down again. 'Lieutenant Colonel Alphonse, I would like you to speak your honest opinion of the loss at Dosas, not these grandiose platitudes." Wolrich said as he fixed him with wolf-like eyes. 'General, there are three main reasons for our loss, the first, weaponry, the second, the quality of personnel, and the third, the will to fight." Alphonse said. 'Explain." Wolrich listened with interest. 'First of all, in terms of weaponry, our adaptability is too low and is not suited to the sandy, hilly terrain of Dosas. In addition we have nothing to show for it in terms of adaptive weaponry development. There are at least four types of information bombs that have appeared on the battlefield, and the enemy is using them in all types to lure the beasts to attack us. There are also camouflage cloaks almost at hand, even the regimental troop movements we didn't notice." 'Well, it's true that those Thunderhorns, Sandworms, and whatnot are causing a large portion of the attrition to our troops." The general nodded and said. 'Then there's the gap in personnel quality, the quality of the frontline commanders varies too much, I once witnessed an imperial ace company being completely wiped out by two resistance forces." 'Oh? Tell me about it." Wolrich beckoned him to step in a bit. Alphonse sat down next to the general and opened the battle map and began to tell. 'This man's guts are truly impressive, since ancient times heroes have been young." Wolrich made a gesture signaling him to continue. 'The last thing is on the will to fight, when faced with major decisions, he always tends to be conservative or save his back, which leads to many missed opportunities for counterattacks." Alphonse said. 'Well, it's outrageous that Apeida surrendered without resistance after their back road was cut off." Alphonse was very surprised to hear the general's words and asked, 'Apeida surrendered?" 'Yes, it's fortunate that you kid ran fast, or else you would have been a captive." The general pointed at him and said with a smile. He blushed at the comment. 'You don't have to feel ashamed, I won't report today's conversation, after all, there are some old men who can't hear the truth." The general said, his face serious, 'After all, the empire is in too much need of fresh blood, and seedlings like you must be well protected." 'General, shall we withdraw to the planetary fortress of Andre?" Alphonse looked up and inquired of the General. 'Yes! The war in Esosu is tight, and the top is going to draw our sharp blade back to protect our throats." The general's expression became more somber. He continued, 'Alphonse, have you ever seen two men fighting with one of them using a sharp blade to guard his throat? Sharp blades, shouldn't they be plunged into the enemy's vitals and stirred frantically? Those lords in the fortress have lost their original bloodlust." Alphonse was silent and speechless, he had not expected this rot to have seeped so far from within the Empire. After leaving the conference room he returned to his cabin and stood in front of the porthole, staring out at the diminishing star of Dosas and thinking back to the long conversation he had had with his brother that night. He muttered to himself, 'Retreating to the planetary fortress of Andrei? Edward, it's all been predicted by you, it's such a proud thing to have such an excellent brother." On the third day after the liberation of all the stars of Dosas, Edward stood on the starport and looked at the star battleship Luschel, which was full of big holes, and shivered with anger. The otherwise smooth hull was dotted with craters, and several of the main guns even had obvious burn marks, and what's more, the main guns were nowhere to be seen in their original positions, and were replaced by a large hole that was too deep to see the bottom. Even the island part of the ship was also badly damaged, Edward couldn't even figure out how this starship sailed to Dosas starport. 'Commander Edward, the Lucchese's power systems are partially intact, weapons systems are 90 damaged, shield systems are destroyed, and the ship's shuttles are critically low on ......," the Federation Major who had come to hand over the ship read from the damage chart. Edward waved his hand signaling the Federation Major to stop talking, his eyebrows knitted together as he asked, 'How long will it take to fix?" The Federation Major wiped his sweat and said, 'Three months or more." Edward shook his head and then asked, 'What about just fixing the weapons systems?" The Federation Major replied, 'A month or so." Edward stepped closer to the Federation Major almost in his face and asked, 'What about if I only fix the main guns?" The Federation Major took a half step back and said, 'Ten days or so." Edward pressed on after him and asked again, 'What about my cruisers and destroyers?" 'They'll be there tomorrow." The Federation Major was running out of room to retreat. 'What's their status?" Edward was getting a little impatient. 'No problems other than a little longer in service." The Federation Major wiped his face, not sure if he was wiping off sweat or drool. 'The big counterattack plan for Esosu Star is about to start, once the Federation puts its troops in, our side will be under pressure from the neighboring states, and you're just going to let me take these to guard those rich planets in the satellite domains?" Edward eventually failed to hold his temper and exploded. Edward hadn't slept for a day, and he now regretted beyond measure that he hadn't gone to Planet Esoda to carry out the plan to train new recruits. 'Don't you tell me about the difficulties, I don't want to hear it, right now our priority is to get the Lucchese back to fighting strength before Esoda's plan for a full-scale counterattack begins. Without starfighters, you're going to use those cruisers and destroyers, which are older than Admiral Barr, to protect those few rich mining stars in our system?" Exasperated, Edward hung up the communication from the head of logistics and paced in front of the star map. 'You're getting more and more like Dad when it comes to hanging up on comms." Elina chuckled. 'It's too much trouble, I've really picked up a hot potato, I'm afraid no one will pick it up if I want to throw it now, I'm totally in our dad's way, he's probably lying on the beach in Vixey right now enjoying a sunbath with Brenda." Edward was pacing while thinking in broken words. At that moment, the intercom rang and Elina pressed the button and the upper half of General Barr's body in a beach shirt appeared on the screen. 'Yikes! Kinda had Edward guessing!" Elina said, clapping her hands. 'What guessed it?" General Barr asked uncertainly. 'Edward said you were lying on the beach in Viccy sunbathing with Brenda!" Elina covered her mouth and laughed softly. 'Wrong guess, I'm on Penland's side. Where's Edward? Edward!" General Barr yelled at the top of his lungs. 'General!" He gave a military salute. General Barr waved his hand and said, 'You kid just took office, you've offended the Energy, Logistics, and Manpower Departments ah, tell me how I can support you." 'I have to get the fleet underway before the Esolda counterattack program begins, heading to the starfield's frontier in order to intercept any enemy fleet that may come." Edward said putting his hand down. 'Edward, have you considered that even if we send the fleet we won't be able to hold it?" General Barr said.